“Much of what is on the market is either over branded, overpriced, ultra tech or just ugly,” explains Roland Sands of his new apparel line. “We wanted to get back to the basics of what a great motorcycle jacket is. It feels good and looks good both on and off the bike.”

Roland’s just released his first line of apparel. It’s heavy on the black leather and light on garish branding. Like he’s getting at above, the line is full of the kind of things you could wear both in public and on the bike without looking like a dayglo sausage.

“We wanted to get back to the basics of what a great motorcycle jacket is,” continues Roland. “It feels good and looks good both on and off the bike. It's subtle enough to get away with wearing without armor as a daily wearable jacket, yet is supplied with armor when you want to ride. Our jackets don't have airbags, but do have enough padding and armor to take a hit.”

“One of my favorite things about the collection is the jackets aren't so bike specific, you can pretty much put on any of the jackets and ride any bike you own and not look out of place. Brown, Black, Gray.”

Roland’s first apparel collection includes a range of leather, waxed cotton and even wool jackets priced from $390 to $600. They all include pockets for armor in the elbows, shoulders and back, but RSD will sell you that CE-approved armor separately. That gives you the choice to wear the jackets as simply a fashion item, or pad them out to wear on the bike. You can even add armor you already own or of a design you prefer, such as TPro or Alpinestars Bio Armor. Even thought the jackets look good off the bike, they’re made to work on one, seems are folded over each other for abrasion resistance and construction and hardware are heavy duty. Jackets in the RSD “Limited” line are pre-worn.

There’s also a range of leather gloves joining the jackets. These short-cuff Diesel gloves (price TBD) are our favorite item in the entire collection. The accordion stretch panels on the back should make them very comfortable while contributing to a look that’s very HR Geiger-esque.

And there’s accessories too. Check out this Dopp/Tool kit bag ($150). It’s made from perforated, waxed leather and is immediately evocative of fast riding, which is saying something for an item designed to transport a toothbrush. Roland was a national champion roadracer before turning custom bike builder and now fashion designer. It’s exciting to see that he’s been able to carry through an intimate understanding of fast riding through all of those worlds.

“Sometimes, it’s what something is not that makes it what it is,” concludes Roland.

We’ve included some of our favorite items in the gallery below. You can see and purchase the entire line at Roland Sands Design.